Tomorrow's world: Self-cleaning socks?

Published: 13th February 2008

There has been an epic scientific breakthrough which could forever banish fears of smelly socks following the creation of self-cleaning fabrics.

Using nanotechnology, the Australian and Chinese boffins have created wool and silk which rid themselves of smells and stains when they are in the sun, meaning the world could be just a few steps away from self-cleaning socks .

One of the researchers, Dr Daoud, told the journal Chemistry Materials that during testing, they had splashed a piece of fabric with red wine and then exposed it to sunlight.

Just 20 hours later, the stain barely showed.

He explained that the science behind the breakthrough is as simple as: "The self-cleaning technology in our work uses titanium dioxide photocatalyst that when triggered by light, it decomposes dirt, stains, harmful micro-organisms and so on." See, simple.

Such technology could put an end to the problem of losing socks during a wash. For generations people have been plagued by the presence of one stubborn odd sock on their pile of laundry.

However, for those who cannot wait for the nanotechnology to be available in the shops, investing in a sock clip may be a quicker solution.